May 2013 Board Meeting Press Highlights

May 2013 Press Highlights 2/26/2013 – 4/25/2013 Editor, “Visit Philly Launches Art-Themed Contest on Pinterest” Visit Philly, 4/25/2013 Editor, “See Philadelphia Artists in Action All Over Town” Philadelphia and the Countryside, 4/24/2013 Freedman, Brian “Philabeverage: Tis the Season for Exciting Pairing Dinners” Philadelphia Weekly, 4/17/2013 Van Allen, Peter, “Sculptor to receive top arts award next month” Philadelphia Business Journal, 4/10/2013 Editor, “Brewery Ommegang’s Hop Chef Competition” 6ABC, 4/23/2013 Editor, “Two big family events at Penn Museum this month” West Philly Local, 4/9/2013 Editor, “Penn Museum celebrates the written word” Metro Philadelphia, 4/08/2013 Editor, “The arts & cultural sector is an economic engine for Allegheny County, PA” Cultural Data Project, 4/8/2013 Editor, “Access Philly Fun Online” Sunday Tribune, 4/7/2013 Editor, “Local Artists Press for Medicaid Expansions” Citizen’s Call, 4/5/2013 Stein, Jonathan, “Philadelphia’s Cultural Fund: Friend of the arts, or foe?”

Broad Street Review, 4/5/2013 Editor, “Philadelphia READS! Community Night Wednesday, April 10 at the Penn Museum Kicks off a Month-Long Children’s Book Drive” Weekly Press and University City Review, 4/03/2013 Editor, “Philadelphia READS! Community Night Wednesday, April 10 at the Penn Museum Kicks off a Month-Long Children’s Book Drive” University of Pennsylvania Almanac, 4/2/2013 Editor, “Event Calendar: Philadelphia READS! Free Community Night” Penn Museum, 4/2013 Editor, “Info Session – Cultural List Cooperative Change” NBC10, 4/1/2013 Editor, “Events: Taking the Pulse of the Future” Museum Council of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, 4/1/2013

Editor, “Philadelphia READS! Community Night Wednesday, April 10 Global Philadelphia, 4/1/2013 Collins, Shannon, “News Links: The City’s Art Ecosystem, Comcast Bans Weapon Ads, Jersey Takes Charge of Failing Schools, Lenfest Foundation Maps Future” Generocity, 4/1/2013 Editor, “Children’s Book Drive Now Through Mother’s Day” Penn Museum, 4/1/2013 Editor, “Singer Denise Montana Performs in Cheltenham This Wednesday Night” Citizen’s Call, 3/29/2013 Editorial, “Culture fest travels through lean times” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/28/2013 Guendelsberger, Emily, “Deconstructing PIFA” Philadelphia City Paper and The Finest, 3/28/2013 De Soleil, Baraka, “Roger Lee – Dance & Choreography. On Attracting and Retaining Diverse Audiences” Chicago Artists Resources, 3/28/2013 Salisbury, Stephan, “Pew plans changes to ‘streamline’ cultural grants” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/22/2013 Editor, “Senior artists sought” Far Northeast Times, 3/20/2013 Kaiden, Tom, “Region discounting arts’ value” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/19/2013 Editor, “Submissions sought for Artists 55+ for PCA’s “Celebrate Arts and Aging” Scoop USA, 3/15/2013 Booker, Bobbi, “Arts panel reassured: Journalism still lives” The Philadelphia Tribune, 3/1/2013 Van Allen, Peter, “Magazine feature provides Philadelphia big opportunities to promote itself” Philadelphia Business Journal, 3/1/2013 Salisbury, Stephan, “Pumping Up The Fringe” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/26/2013

http://press.visitphilly.com/releases/visit-philly-launches-art-themed-contest-on-pinterest

Apr 25 2013

http://press.visitphilly.com/releases/visit-philly-launches-art-themed-contest-on-pinterest

Visit Philly Launches Art-Themed Contest On Pinterest Visitors Can Pin & Win Their Ideal Philadelphia Getaway Weekend Visitors can “pin” their way to an art-filled Philadelphia weekend by creating their ideal Philly itinerary using the social-networking site Pinterest. Part of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC)’s With Art Philadelphia™ campaign, the “Pin Your Way With Art” contest will award one grand-prize winner the Philadelphia getaway they created and submitted, complete with art experiences, meals and an overnight hotel stay. Five additional winners will receive Philadelphia museum memberships.

Submissions are being accepted through May 24, 2013.

Why Pinterest?: GPTMC chose Pinterest as the platform for this contest because of its image-building and web traffic-driving capabilities. When contest entrants “pin” about Philadelphia’s rich art scene via Visit Philly’s With Art website and Pinterest boards, they share that content with their followers, who can also then “pin” and share that content. As each pin leads back to the website it was pinned from, the contest will drive traffic to With Art’s website at visitphilly.com/withart.

According to a February 2013 Pew Research Center report, 15% of American Internet users are now on Pinterest—right behind Twitter at 16%. Third-party Pinterest-reporting site Repinly reports that art is the third most-popular Pinterest board topic.

The Art Of Competition: On facebook.com/visitphilly, users can access the official “Pin Your Way With Art” contest tab. They must follow Visit Philly on Pinterest and Facebook, create a Pinterest board titled “With Art Philadelphia” and pin at least 10 images from specific locations, such as visitphilly.com/withart or Visit Philly’s hotel-, dining- and art-related Pinterest boards.

Once followers have created a With Art Pinterest board, they submit the board’s URL via the Facebook tab by May 24, 2013. One person will win an art-filled weekend stay in Philadelphia as close to their designed weekend as possible.

The With Art Philadelphia™ collaborative is a first-of-its-kind partnership to position Philadelphia among the world’s great art destinations and to increase visitation to the region from around the world. The groups contributing financial and other resources to the campaign are: the City of Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Lenfest Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Knight Foundation, Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, PNC and PECO. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.

Tagged: Arts & Culture, GPTMC

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Related Media Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens

Even Amateur Artists Can Tap Into Their Creative Energies At City’s Many Galleries & Collectives Tw eet

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Using items such as recycled glass and ceramic, mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar constructed one of the city’s most eyecatching displays of public art— Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Selfguided tours through the gallery space and sculpture garden are available, along with a Mosaic Mural Walking Tour, which explores Zagar’s masterpieces on city buildings...

Mural Arts Program, “Philadelphia Muses”

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Leslie Friedman Studio

In many ways, art making is a spectator sport in Philadelphia, where hundreds of fledgling and established artists work in public view at collective spaces all over town. To spur and promote innovation, artists invite visitors to stop in to watch, learn and participate in order to add their own creative energy to the process. Here’s where art lovers can watch the artistic process take shape in Philly: Art Makers In Action: The Center for Art in Wood celebrates one of the world’s most ancient artistic mediums by providing residencies for more than 100 international artists. Once a year, visitors are invited to the University of the Arts Wood Shop to meet the artists and view demonstrations of their work, which stay on exhibit for about two months. People can also check out changing exhibitions of contemporary artwork, a permanent collection of 1,000 pieces and Saturday hands-on family workshops. The research library, home to more than 25,000 images, files and books, is open normal hours, as is the gift shop. 141 N. 3rd Street, (215) 923-8000, centerforartinwood.org All of the studios at The Fabric Workshop and Museum are open to the public by appointment, enabling visitors to witness the creative process in media ranging from textile, sculpture, installation, video and beyond. Outside the studios, museum galleries showcase completed works of art from the artists-in-residence program, permanent collection and traveling exhibitions. 1214 Arch Street, (215) 561-8888, fabricworkshopandmuseum.org Almost 40 years ago, The Clay Studio was founded by five artists in search of shared studio space. Today, the studio offers ceramics education through weekly classes, galleries and studio spaces, along with a variety of workshops covering subjects such as wheel throwing.

Regular special events include Date Night and Out of Hand experiences taught by local artists.

139 N. 2nd Street, (215) 925-3453, theclaystudio.org Professionals can rent high-end digital equipment, while hobbyists can learn contemporary photography techniques such as Intro to Ink Jet Printing and Intro to Studio Lighting at the

Meg Saligman’s “Philadelphia Muses” at 13th and Locust Streets is one of 3,000 works commissioned by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, which began in 1984 as a component of the city’s Anti-Graffiti Network....

First Friday, Old City

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. In addition, the non-profit organization hosts photographic exhibitions and lectures by practicing artists, and anyone can get in on the action during Philly Photo Day, a popular annual event that captures a day in the life of Philadelphians. 1400 N. American Street, #103, (215) 232-5678, philaphotoarts.org One of the first American venues to dedicate itself to print art, The Print Center hosts group and solo exhibitions highlighting new artists setting trends and established artists—think Pablo Picasso and Mary Cassatt—who set trends in their day. Free guided and self-guided tours are available, and the center hosts artist talks, along with BYOB nights when guests mix and mingle with local artists and collectors. 1614 Latimer Street, (215) 735-6090, printcenter.org One of Philadelphia’s most unexpected artistic finds, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens leads visitors through an outdoor labyrinth of tile, mirror and found-object mosaics. The once-vacant space showcases the work of Isaiah Zagar, whose mosaic murals line South Street. Guided tours run on weekends, with self-guided touring encouraged seven days a week. Another great time to go: during the monthly mosaic workshop led by Zagar or during one of the interactive activities, concerts, (unusual) art exhibitions or talks with Zagar himself. 1020 South Street, (215) 733-0390, philadelphiasmagicgardens.org The mission of Brandywine Workshop is to be a major force in the creation, documentation and preservation of culturally diverse fine art printmaking. Its archives include more than 20,000 prints, and the workshop produces limited-edition prints for sale and maintains Satellite Collections at institutions around the country. People can head to the Glass Lobby Gallery daily to view recent prints and those from the permanent collection. Individual and group tours of the print studios are available by appointment for those wanting to learn how original prints are made and meet visiting artists. Workshop, 728 S. Broad Street; Gallery, 732 S. Broad Street, (215) 546-3675, brandywineworkshop.com Philadelphia’s beloved Mural Arts Program recently opened a public space where visitors can watch muralists work; buy original local artwork, T-shirts, notecards and books; and purchase tickets to guided mural tours. In addition, Mural Arts at The Gallery often opens for group- painting projects and community paint days when the public can work on a mural in progress. 901 Market Street, Level 2, (215) 925-3633 ext. 13, muralarts.org Over two weekends every October, 30,000 art lovers get a chance to peek into the working lives of artists who spend much of their time enclosed within private studios. During Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, self-guided tours lead visitors into approximately 300 studios spread across 20 different neighborhoods. Studios conduct interactive demonstrations, workshops, artist talks, tours and receptions. (215) 546-7775, philaopenstudios.org At East Falls GlassWorks, professional glass workers renting studio space mix with students taking intensive courses and visitors learning basic techniques such as glass blowing and casting. For a more one-on-one experience at the city’s largest studio and gallery dedicated to hot glass, teachers offer private lessons. The shop also sells the items crafted by on-site and local glassworkers. 3510 Scotts Lane, (215) 908-7924, eastfallsglass.com Old City maintains recognition as one of the nation’s first neighborhoods to sponsor a First Friday series, which launched in 1991. Spearheaded in part by the almost 50-year-old Snyderman-Works Galleries, First Friday brings thousands of people to Old City’s more than 40 galleries and boutiques that stay open until 9:00 p.m., offering light sips and bites along the way. Snyderman is also leading the charge to expand First Fridays into First Weekend, with events, like a recent fashion show, throughout the first weekend of each month. Along Frankford Avenue, the galleries and shops in the art-centric Fishtown and Kensington neighborhoods stay open late every First Friday. And on the Second Saturday of each month along the East Passyunk corridor, merchants host art openings, music and sales and offer complimentary refreshments. oldcityarts.org, frankfordavearts.org, visiteastpassyunk.com

The many galleries and shops of Old City Philadelphia unveil new exhibitions on the first Friday of every month.

Festivities spill out onto the sidewalks, where musicians and performance artists entertain the First Friday crowds....

First Friday, Frankford Avenue

On the first Friday of every month, galleries, boutiques and restaurants along the Frankford Avenue Arts Corridor in Fishtown and Kensington mount new exhibits, offer special discounts and host special performances....

Collectives: Comprised of individuals and organizations practicing traditional and experimental art, Crane Arts offers four floors of private studios, a public floor of galleries and two modern project spaces, including one with a 2,500-square-foot video wall. The public floor is open Wednesday to Saturdays, though several tenants, such as Philly Photo Arts and Second State Press, offer classes. 1400 N. American Street, (215) 232-3203, cranearts.com As the name implies, Vox Populi aims to give voice to the people—in this case, underrepresented artists. The collective requires a rotating membership and a commitment to collaboration, and it houses a curated video lounge and programs monthly exhibitions, along with gallery talks, performances and lectures—all to support its members’ challenging and experimental concepts. 319 N. 11th Street, # 3, (215) 238-1236, voxpopuligallery.org What is Space 1026? In the words of its participants, it’s a 13-year experiment, two floors of a building and a “common excitement for making, producing and creating, not for some outside world of aficionados, but for each other.” In all seriousness, Space 1026 is a network of likeminded, out-of-the-box thinkers who create and exhibit together at regularly scheduled gallery shows. 1026 Arch Street, (215) 574-7630, space1026.com Located in a former yarn-dying factory, Globe Dye Works serves as a new model for coworking spaces, where artists share art and production studios to generate ideas on how to incorporate industry into art. Tenants range from a wooden boat maker and a guacamole company to a frame maker and cupcake baker. Dye Works is open to the public for special events or by appointment. 4500 Worth Street, (215) 288-4554, globedyeworks.com If it’s related to sculpture, it’s happening at Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, where members of the community-based workshop can show their work in the shared gallery and non-members can use the equipment and the expertise of mentors to cast their own metal objects.

Workshops focus on creating clay animal sculptures, metalworking, building your own bicycle frame and more. 1834 E. Frankford Avenue, (215) 901-1933, philadelphiasculpturegym.com It’s impossible to hold a conversation about the intersection of art and technology without discussing NextFab, an innovation space for designers, artists, engineers and entrepreneurs stocked with of-the-moment tools. NextFab offers consulting services and workshops. The converted iron workshop also features many amenities, including a 3-D laser printer, a walk-in paint booth, industrial sewing equipment, a dedicated photo/video studio and a computer lab, classrooms, conference rooms and lounges. 2025 Washington Avenue, (215) 921-3649, nextfabstudio.com

Crane Arts

Part of the revitalization of the Fishtown section of Philadelphia, Crane Arts creates a forum for emerging and established artists to work and showcase their creations. The neighborhood itself, situated northeast of Center City, was named for its former role as the center of the shad fishing industry on the...

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

Providing a “life of community connection,” 2424 Studios nurtures the creative economy by providing a holistically minded workspace. Organizers host a few exhibitions per year to show off the building’s many start-ups, including several production companies, a home-building company, an artist studio and a well-known hipster blog. 2424 E. York Street, (215) 925-7676, 2424studios.com Since 1983, The Center For Emerging Visual Artists has encouraged the career development of emerging artists through programs such as the Visual Artist Fellowship and the Direct Dialogues lecture series. The public Custom Exhibition series displays the work of affiliated artists and puts them up for sale. The center also hosts the popular Philadelphia Open Studio Tours each year. (See above for details.) 237 S. 18th Street, (215) 546-7775, cfeva.org Self-described as “a mashup of art, design, science & technology,” Breadboard’s programs introduce the public to creative and cultural practices emerging around new media and technology. In addition to its exhibition series at the EKG project space at the University City Science Center, its artist residency program and its public programming, Breadboard partners with entities such as NextFab Studio to bring entrepreneurs, engineers and industrial designers together with artists, DIY enthusiasts and public school students over nextgeneration equipment such as laser cutters, 3-D printers, milling machines and digital embroiders. 3711 Market Street, (215) 966-6188, breadboardphilly.org The With Art Philadelphia™ collaborative is a first-of-its-kind partnership to position Philadelphia among the world’s great art destinations and to increase visitation to the region from around the world.

The groups contributing financial and other resources to the campaign are: the City of Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Lenfest Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Knight Foundation, PNC and PECO.

This uwishunu.com video gives a peek inside Philadelphia's Magic Gardens on South Street. The largest example of Philadelphia-born Isaiah Zagar's distint mural art, this space took 14 years to complete. Visitors can sign up for a guided tour of Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, or they can delve even deeper with an...

More Photos 114 related photos

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.

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Brewery Ommegang's Hop Chef Competition Editor April 23, 2013

PHILADELPHIA - April 23, 2013 (WPVI) -- Philadelphia is known as the best beerdrinking city in America, but some local chefs want more.

They're entered in Brewery Ommegang's Hop Chef Competition, and the local round is tonight. Six chefs are entered. The winner of tonight's cook-off goes to a national championship round at Ommegang's headquarters in Cooperstown, New York.

We spoke with one of tonight's entrants, executive chef Patrick Szoke of South Philadelphia's "The Industry".

It's a restaurant and bar catering to food professionals, so Szoke is always challenged to be on his game. Chefs in the competition drew for beers at random and Szoke got "Three Philosophers", a brew with hints of chocolate and cherries in its flavor profile.

On our visit to his kitchen, he produced a dish featuring mirepoix, the classic combination of carrot, celery and onion, sliced port cheeks, and the beer as a braising liquid. For the competition, chefs will be judged on five criteria including how well they pair their assigned beer with ingredients.

Other chefs tonight include Eli Kulp of Fork, Yun Fuentes of JG Domestic, Lucio Palazzo of La Calaca Feliz, Nick Macri of Southwark, and Mike Deganis of Alla Spina.

The winner will represent Philadelphia in a national championship round at Ommegang's headquarters in Cooperstown, New York come August.

The winner there will be featured in Saveur magazine and on the StarChefs.com website. Tonight's competition is at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden Street. It's a ticketed event and the cost is $53.50 per person. Proceeds benefit the Mural Arts Program and Groundswell.

(Copyright Š2013 WPVI-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/drink/Pair-Pressure-203280871.html#ixzz2RyFZUfkH

Philabeverage: Tis the Season for Exciting Pairing Dinners Brian Freedman April 17, 2013

It’s the classic conundrum of springtime in a great eating and drinking city like ours: Just as the season of more revealing clothing arrives, so, too, does a brand new crop of pairing dinners. So, do you take a pass on all of these phenomenal opportunities to joyously damage your liver and cholesterol counts in order to look good come beach season, or do you give in to the siren song of all these great events?

Of course you do the latter. Here, then, is a brief rundown of the most exciting ones in the next couple weeks. Next issue, we’ll be featuring a more extensive list of upcoming beverage-pairing meals, including some early booking opportunities for Philly Beer Week. For now, though, these three should be more than enough to get you hungry, thirsty and thoroughly over any concern for frivolous seasonal sartorial matters. In the face of dinners like these, bodily aesthetics can wait. Just dig in.

Le Bec Fin’s Winemaker Dinner Series: Tonight at 6:30, the famed Walnut Street destination will host rising star winemaker Andre Mack for a special five-course dinner created by Steve Eckerd, chef de cuisine, and Philippe Sauriat, sommelier. The menu and the wines are every bit as dramatic and appealing as you’d expect. Come hungry ... and thirsty. Wed., April 17. 6:30pm. $125. Le Bec Fin, 1523 Walnut St. 215.567.1000. lebecfin.com Tashan dinner and cocktail pairing: The modern-Indian restaurant and lounge will host a dinner featuring a menu by Chef Sylva Senat and James Beard winner and Chopped judge Chef Maneet Chauhan. For less than $100, you get three courses, wine and cocktail pairings (including a delicious-sounding Darjeeling tea white sangria), and a signed cookbook by Chauhan. Fri., April 19. 5pm till close. Reservations suggested. $95. Tashan, 777 S. Broad St. mytashan.com Ommegang Brewery’s Hop Chef competition: Six top Philly chefs will create one dish each, specifically paired with a particular beer from the highly regarded Cooperstown, N.Y., brewery. The winner will represent the city at the national Belgium Comes to Cooperstown competition on Aug. 3. Proceeds go to GroundSwell, a coalition powered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, and the Mural Arts Program. Tues., April 23. 7pm. $53.50. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. 215.232.2100. utphilly.com

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2013/04/10/sculptor-to-receive-arts-award-next.html

Sculptor to receive top arts award next month Peter Van Allen April 10, 2013

Artist Claes Oldenburg will receive top honors from the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia next month.

The 84-year-old Swedish sculptor has several well-known artworks in Philadelphia, including “Clothespin” opposite City Hall, “Split Button” on the Penn campus and, more recently, the 2011 installation of the 51-foot “Paint Torch” at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Oldenburg will receive the Anne d’Harnoncourt Award for Artistic Excellence at the Arts & Business Council’s annual awards celebration, May 8 at Vie (600 N. Broad St.), starting at 5:30 p.m.

Other winners: • G. Fred DiBona Jr. Individual Leadership Award: Carole Haas Gravagno • PNC Arts Alive Award for Innovation in Honor of Peggy Amsterdam: People’s Light & Theatre Co. • Business & Arts Partnership Award (large business with an arts-and-cultural organization): PNC and the Barnes Foundation • Business & Arts Partnership Award (small business with an arts-and-cultural organization: Globe Development Group and the Philadelphia Sculptors • Creative Economy Award for Distinction in a For-Profit Creative Field: Shooters Inc. • Business On Board Volunteer Leader of the Year Award: Melissa Blanton, a partner at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP • Business Volunteers for the Arts Volunteer of the Year Award: Mary Rosenberger, founder and CMO of Amare Inc. • Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Volunteer of the Year Award: Keith Joseph, an associate at Ballard Spahr LLP, and Maura McKenna, a solutions consultant at LexisNexis • Technology Connectors Volunteer of the Year Award: John Tigh, senior manager of the North Highland Co.

http://www.westphillylocal.com/2013/04/09/two-big-family-events-at-penn-museum-this-month/

Two big family events at Penn Museum this month Editor April 9, 2013

Penn Museum is organizing two great family events this month and inviting West Philly kids and their families to attend.

Philadelphia READS! community night (free): On Wednesday, Apr 10, Penn Museum celebrates literacy with a free community night and kickoff to a month-long book drive, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event, co-hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s Groundswell Initiative, will include storytelling in the galleries, dance performances, a poetry workshop, and a hieroglyph-writing workshop. Guests are asked to bring a new or gently used children’s book to contribute to Philadelphia READS, a program that provides books to educators in the city.

For more information go here. […]

http://www.culturaldata.org/2013/04/08/the-arts-culture-sector-is-an-economic-engine-for-alleghenycounty/

The arts & culture sector is an economic engine for Allegheny County, PA Editor April 8, 2013

In partnership with Americans for the Arts, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) surveyed 120 arts and culture organizations and 918 audience members in Allegheny County PA to determine the economic impact of the arts & culture industry on its county’s economy. Based on data and analysis from the Cultural Data Project, the Local Arts Index report on Allegheny County, Pittsburgh TODAY, and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, GPAC found that direct expenditures of $686 million annually by cultural organizations and their audiences yielded $410 million in household income, $74 million in tax revenues, and 20,550 full-time equivalent jobs.

http://www.citizenscall.net/arts/local-artists-press-for-medicaid-expansion/

Local Artists Press for Medicaid Expansion Editor April 5, 2013

Cheltenham-based White Pines Productions is teaming up with GroundSwell, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s grassroots advocacy initiative, to push Governor Corbett to expand Medicaid in PA so more independent artists can get health insurance.

Under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid will open up to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level. For artists, according to White Pines, this issue is critical.

PA’s current Medicaid program is only available to residents who are very low income and fit into strictly defined categories. With a Medicaid expansion, health insurance would be far more available and affordable for artists and others in a similar economic position.

But so far, Governor Corbett has resisted approving the expansion based on cost concerns. A new Rand Corporation study for the PA Hospital Association said that expanding Medicaid would increase federal dollars to PA by more than $2 billion annually and insure 340,000 people, according to yesterday’s Inquirer.

More than half of all artists in Greater Philadelphia’s cultural sector are independent contractors, who are necessarily ineligible for insurance coverage through employers.

And only one-fifth of all arts positions are full-time. That means many artists aren’t making enough money to afford health insurance on their own.

“Not having health insurance is risky — let’s make it so the only risks our artists are taking are the ones in their work,” said Ben Lloyd, White Pines’ founding producer. He urged that emails be sent to the governor to show support for Medicaid expansion. You can click here to send a message.

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/index.php/main/article/artful_neglect_the_philadelphia_cultu ral_fund/

Philadelphia’s Cultural Fund: Friend of the arts, or foe?

Jonathan M. Stein April 5, 2013

It may be true that Philadelphia has been recognized by Frommer’s as an “Art Capital,” and one of the “U.S. top ten destinations for 2013.” It’s also true that Old City has been named one of the country’s “Top 12 Art Places,” and that Philadelphia was recently dubbed the nation’s “dance capital” by the esteemed dancer/scholar Susan Foster.

But how, then, do you explain the city government’s neglect of its only direct funding of arts and culture: the Philadelphia Cultural Fund?

The Fund was launched by Mayor Ed Rendell in 1994 as a $500,000 initiative, replacing the disparate Section 500 arts grants that had previously been distributed at the sole discretion of individual City Council members. In keeping with the egalitarian spirit of the new Cultural Fund, any bona fide Philadelphia-based arts or cultural group could apply for a grant that could be used for any legitimate expenses— no strings attached. The Fund is still run as an independent non-profit corporation, with a board consisting of mayoral, Councilmanic and arts community appointments, allocating city funds through an applications process that involves peer reviewers from the local arts community. (Full disclosure: I was a founding board member of the Cultural Fund.)

One hand giveth….

Unlike the Pew Charitable Trust and William Penn Foundation— whose elitist criteria often excluded small, middle-sized and emerging arts groups— the Cultural Fund was not intended to make artistic judgments. Most of the 247 groups funded last month (average grant: $6,626) would never have a shot with the Pews and William Penns. The recipients are groups like Anne-Marie Mulgrew’s eponymous dance company, which offers free, public, site-specific performances, concerts, affordable classes, and residencies tailored to people of all ages and skill levels, without funding from a major foundation.

With Mayor Michael Nutter’s support the Cultural Fund grew to $3.2 million in fiscal year 2010, but as one hand gaveth, the other returned the next year to take away almost 50 percent of the Fund’s total appropriation, reducing the 2011 appropriation to its current level, at $1.84 million (of which $1.63 million allocated to groups last month). A

lobbying effort is under way to restore funding to the $3.2 million level, using all the economic arguments amassed by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, like the arts’ $2.8 billion impact on the region’s economy, the equivalent of 30,000 full-time jobs.

But this chronic crisis in funding for the Cultural Fund also offers an opportunity to address several critical policies that could both expand financial support and ensure that the Fund maintains its original mission and special role in Philadelphia.

Why not leverage?

For one thing, the Fund— under pressure from former board members representing larger cultural organizations— was always prohibited from supplementing its appropriations with private donations, thus preventing municipal dollars from leveraging grants in the private foundation and corporate sectors. There is no good reason why an enlightened foundation should be prevented from incentivizing the city by pledging, say, $1 million to the Cultural Fund if the City matches it 2 for 1, or even 1 for 1.

The Cultural Fund wields great fund-raising potential here, because it can draw on unique strengths. No other arts-granting organization in Greater Philadelphia possesses such diversity and outreach to so many organizations.

The Cultural Fund is also virtually the only source of support for continuing arts operations (most foundation program officers these days prefer to fund special projects or performances, which they find sexier than funding basic operations).

Who needs $10,000?

The Cultural Fund can also stop funding Philadelphia’s largest arts/cultural organizations— those troupes that, thanks to their full-time development staffs, enjoy ready access to national and regional foundations like the Pews and William Penns, not to mention corporations and rich donors. The Cultural Fund now doles out annual $10,000 grants to almost two dozen groups with annual budgets above $5 million— groups for whom $10,000 hardly makes a difference. One Cultural Fund board member recently acknowledged as much to me, saying these largest groups justified their continuing Cultural Fund grants as “symbolic.”

I would re-allocate this quarter-million in funds to smaller groups. In lieu of those $10,000 city grants to major arts organizations, I would offer them a more valuable tool: a symbolic letter of support from the mayor or from the city’s chief cultural officer, Gary Steuer, for their use in generating funding support elsewhere.

Between the reduced funding and the rising number of groups applying for support, the Cultural Fund’s board has also unfortunately strayed from its original mission, employing corporate-type evaluation criteria (as opposed to artistic criteria) for grants.

Thus the Cultural Fund’s current evaluations use a points scale that places the greatest

value on “leadership and governance,” “operations and managerial capacity,” and “ability to plan,” as opposed to “programmatic merit and strength” and “community impact.”

Slought’s struggles As one result of this policy, 53 applicants for funding— about 20 percent of the total— were rejected last year. The corporate arts mindset has found fertile grounds at the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Instead of insuring that all arts groups get some grant money if they’re producing, the Cultural Fund is rendering management evaluations that have no place in allocating city funds. “Every small organization is vulnerable,” says Aaron Levy, the brilliant director of the Slought Foundation, the avant-garde West Philadelphia storefront art presenting group. “How small organizations are structured is now a liability and a vulnerability.”

Slought, despite its stellar ten-year record and international reputation, was almost defunded this year because of these criteria, as well as a negative report by a peer reviewer who, according to Levy, had never visited a grass-roots arts group before and did not know very much about his organization.

Saved by politicians Which brings up a larger issue: the Cultural Fund’s lack of professionalism. In awarding its grants, the Fund relies on 130 volunteer “peer” reviewers, many of them inexperienced and unengaged in the task of evaluating groups. The Fund’s casual approach to its appeals process is suggested by the fact that only two board members attended this year’s appeals session.

The Cultural Fund’s distorted criteria this year also defunded the respected Community Education Center, the multi-arts center and artist incubator in Powelton Village, on grounds of alleged administrative weaknesses and lack of sustainability. That’s quite a charge against an arts group that has nurtured dance, music and theater artists— especially minority artists— for 40 years on a shoestring budget.

Only a last-minute intervention from City Councilwomen Jannie Blackwell and Maria Quinones-Sanchez prevented a total defunding of the Community Education Center. Of course, this rescue was precisely the sort of political intervention that the Cultural Fund was originally designed to eliminate.

If the Fund is to fulfill its mission, it also needs a full-time professional staff, as well the marketing resources to make itself known to garner more outside support. After 20 years, the Cultural Fund continues to remain Philadelphia’s best-kept secret. If it hopes to attract more funding from the city, not to mention enriching the city’s cultural life, it must change its ways.

Jonathan Stein was a founding board member of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.♌

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Philadelphia Reads! Community Night at the Penn Museum: Kicking off a Month-Long Children's Book Drive April 2, 2013, Volume 59, No. 27

It’s a groundswell, and it’s building momentum—Philadelphia’s cultural community is putting the spotlight on reading, literacy and community engagement. Reading opens up worlds of opportunity—and books, like the many cultural treasures in the city, bring so many worlds vividly to life.

Penn Museum, in cooperation with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s GroundSwell initiative, opens its doors Wednesday, April 10, from 5 to 8 p.m, for a free Philadelphia Reads! Community Night and the official kick-off of a month-long children’s book drive to benefit the teachers, the children and ultimately, the community of Philadelphia.

The free event is an invitation for people young and old to explore the world through the Penn Museum’s many-cultured galleries— filled on this evening with a host of special activities and a literary twist. Guests are welcome to bring a gently used or a new children’s book—suitable for pre-kindergarten through elementary school—to contribute to Philadelphia Reads, a program that provides books and literacy resources to educators in the City of Philadelphia.

A young visitor looks into the eyes of history. This gilded mask originally covered the head of a mummy, Ptolemaic-Roman Period (after 300 BCE). The deceased, in a long wig, is shown in an idealized fashion. The golden flesh may represent the skin of the immortal Egyptian gods. At Philadelphia Reads! Community Night, stories come to life as Museum curators, keepers, staff, and graduate students tell their favorite stories in the galleries.

Philadelphia Reads provides volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups to help put children on the path to academic success.

The Philadelphia Reads Book Bank provides children’s books for classroom libraries and school supplies for students—free of charge—to Philadelphia educators who teach in under-resourced public, charter and parochial schools, day care centers, after school programs and other educational sites. In the 2011–2012 school year, 91,000 books were supplied to under-resourced classroom libraries.

A Night to Celebrate Reading Penn Museum curators, collections keepers and graduate students join in the celebration with gallery storytelling and hands-on activities.

The Museum has the world’s largest collection of ancient clay cuneiform tablets with Sumerian literature—featuring some of the earliest storytelling in the world.

Irene Plantholt, a graduate student in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, teaches guests how to write in ancient Sumerian on clay tablets in a “first day of school” workshop at 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m.

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs workshops, where everyone can learn to write his or her own name in hieroglyphs, are offered by Allison Hedges, recent Penn MLA graduate in Ancient Studies, at 6:30 and 7:15 p.m.

Guests can enjoy favorite stories from diverse cultures, presented by curators, keepers and staff in the Museum’s related galleries:

galleries: International Classroom Program Manager Prema Deshmukh at 5 p.m.; Egyptian Section Associate Curator Jennifer Wegner at 5:30 p.m.; Near Eastern Section Assistant Curator Lauren Ristvet at 6 p.m.; Mediterranean Section Associate Curator Ann Brownlee at 6:30 p.m.; Physical Anthropology Curator Janet Monge at 7 p.m.; and Executive Director, Philadelphia Reads, Adrienne Jacoby, at 7:30 p.m.

Community presenters and performers will join in the evening. Teaching artist, actor and storyteller Jan Michener of Arts Holding Hands & Hearts leads an interactive program using newspaper headlines to create and perform poetry. Youth poets from ArtWell will perform throughout the evening.

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) joins the night too. WePAC opens and staffs elementary school libraries with screened and trained volunteers, making a difference for more than 5,000 students. They will provide information on ways to volunteer in their effort to promote literacy.

Do Something Good for a Change! GroundSwell, an initiative of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, is building a movement of residents who take action to make Philadelphia a world-class place to live, work and play and who speak out on behalf of the region’s cultural assets.

Guests are invited to sign up in advance and share the invitation with friends: http://philadelphiareadscommunitynight.eventb rite.com/ Walk-ins are welcome, too.

Additional Book Drop-Off Points The GroundSwell Philadelphia Reads Book Drive is supported by multiple locations and books are being collected through Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Check hours at individual organizations before dropping off donations.

On the Penn campus: • Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, www.penn.museum • Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3860 Walnut Street, www.pennpresents.org • Arthur Ross Gallery, 220 South 34th Street, www.upenn.edu/ARG • Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street, www.icaphila.org • Office of Community and Public Affairs,133 South 36th Street, 5 fl, www.upenn.edu/ogca In Center City: • Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, The Philadelphia Building, Lobby 1315 Walnut Street, www.philaculture.org/

The Museum's rich collection of art and artifacts from around the world provides the setting for a night of stories and a celebration of literacy.

Pictured here, a Museum docent tells stories in a related gallery. At Philadelphia Reads! Community Night, guests can hear stories from around the world, selected and told by the Penn Museum keepers, curators, staff and graduate students.

Year-round, students and families come face to face with world cultures and genuine art and artifacts, including this 12-ton Sphinx, which dominates the Egypt (Sphinx) gallery. At Philadelphia Reads!

Community Night, guests can learn to write their name in Egyptian hieroglyphs and then hear a fable told by Egyptian section curator Jennifer Wegner.

Almanac - April 2, 2013, Volume 59, No. 27

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Philadelphia READS! Free Community Night

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Description April 10 Wednesday, 5:00 - 8:00 pm Free Community Night Penn Museum, in cooperation with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's GroundSwell initiative, opens its doors Wednesday, April 10, 5 to 8 pm, for a free Philadelphia READS! Community Night and the official kickoff of a month-long children's book drive! Penn Museum curators, collections keepers, and graduate students join in the celebration with gallery storytelling, and hands on activities.

Guests can learn to write ancient Sumerian on clay tablets and write their names in Egyptian Hieroglyphs, during workshops offered throughout the evening. Favorite stories from diverse cultures are presented by curators, keepers, and staff in the Museum's related galleries. The event also features an interactive poetry program, readings of original poems by young writers, and conversations on ways to help promote literacy in the community. Attendees can also enjoy dance works inspired by stories from literature and folklore.

Guests are encouraged to bring a gently used or a new children's book—suitable for pre-kindergarten through elementary school—to contribute to Philadelphia READS, a program that provides books and literacy resources to educators in the City of Philadelphia. For more information, call 215.898.2680.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Workshops 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 pm: Learn to write in ancient Sumerian with Irene Plantholt, Graduate Student, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations 5:30 pm: Explore the "language" of the drum, at a middle eastern drum workshop hosted by renowned Philadelphia drummer Joe Tayoun 6:30 and 7:15 pm: Learn to write in ancient Egyptian heiroglyphs with Allison Hedges, Penn MLA Graduate, Ancient Studies Multicultural Storytelling 5:00 pm: International Classroom Program Manager Prema Deshmukh 5:30 pm: Egyptian Section Associate Curator Jennifer Wegner 6:00 pm: Near Eastern Section Assistant Curator Lauren Ristvet

6:30 pm: 7:00 pm: 7:30 pm: 7:30 pm:

Mediterranean Section Associate Curator Ann Brownlee Physical Anthropology Curator Janet Monge Near Eastern Section Keeper Katy Blanchard Adrienne Jacoby, Executive Director, Philadelphia READS

Poetry Throughout the evening: Create and perform poetry using newspaper headlines with teaching artist, actor, and storyteller Jan Michener of Arts Holding Hands & Hearts.

Throughout the evening: Hear performances by youth poets from ArtWell.

Dancing 6:00 and 7:00pm: Chisena Danza, Stone Depot Dance Lab and Jennifer Yackel and Dancers collaborate to perform a dance work inspired by stories from literature and folklore.

Volunteering Throughout the evening: West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) provides information on ways to volunteer in their effort to promote literacy.

Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Reach Out and Read Program are also on hand. Reach Out and Read is a national program that prepares America's youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together.

You can RSVP for this special event, and invite your friends to join the fun, at the Eventbrite event listing.

About Philadelphia READS: Philadelphia READS provides volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups to help put children on the path to academic success. The Philadelphia READS Book Bank provides children’s books for classroom libraries and school supplies for students -- free of charge -- to Philadelphia educators who teach in under resourced public, charter and parochial schools, day care centers, after school programs and other educational sites. In the 2011 – 2012 school year, 91,000 books were supplied to under-resourced classroom libraries.

About GroundSwell: Do Something Good for a Change! GroundSwell, an initiative of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, is building a movement of residents who take action to make Philadelphia a world-class place to live, work, and play, and who speak out on behalf of our region’s cultural assets.

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3260 South Street

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19104

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Philadelphia

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PA

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University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology | 3260 South Street | Philadelphia, PA 19104 | (215) 898-4000 | Contacts

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April Info Session ­ Cultural List Cooperative ... at Temple University Center City (TUCC) | NBC Philadelphia Events ­ Philadelphia Entertainment ... Page 1 of 3

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FIND PHILADELPHIA AREA EVENTS, CONCERTS, AND MORE. Events Home > April Info Session - Cultural List Cooperative Changes

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Info Session - Cultural List Cooperative Changes Temple University Center City Campus 1515 Market Street, Philadelphia Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

We’ve been hard at work making some changes to the List Cooperative to make it more meaningful for the way you use it. We’ve got some new features and audience insights that we’re excited to share with you as well as a new name, “Audience Analytics”.

Breakfast and Registration will begin at 9:00am with the session starting promptly at 9:30am.

For questions about this program or event, please contact Kendra Lawton, Director of Programs & Planning at the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance at kendral@philaculture.org or (215) 399-3520.

The Philadelphia Cultural List Cooperative is sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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THE SCENE See more The Scene Philly Orchestra, Opera to Unveil 'Salome' in 2014 The Philadelphia Orchestra and Opera Philadelphia have unveiled their first collaboration on a new production of Richard

http://events.nbcphiladelphia.com/philadelphia_pa/events/april-info-session-cultural-list-cooperati-/E0-001-054528292-8

Strauss' lusty one-act opera "Salome."

4/22/2013

http://philadelphiamuseumcouncil.com/events/

Events: Taking the Pulse of the Future Editor April, 2013

Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, in partnership with Museum Council of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, as part of the 2013 Association of Performing Arts Service Organizations Conference (APASO) present: Taking the Pulse of the Future Presented by Elizabeth Merritt, Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 9:30 – 11:00am Academy of Music Ballroom $20 Breakfast included / $10 for Museum Council Members Breakfast and registration will begin at 8:45am Paid Museum Council Members and area museum attendees will have the opportunity to join Elizabeth Merritt for an added 30 minute “Talk-back”, a casual conversation and q&a to take place after the general session.

Click here to register.

A whirlwind tour of coming decades from the American Alliance for Museums’ Center for the Future of Museums, exploring trends in philanthropy, technology and culture that are shaping cultural organizations, their communities and their audiences.

The American Alliance of Museums established the Center for the Future of Museums in 2008 to help museums understand the cultural, political, economic, environmental, and technological trends shaping the world, and envision how museums can help their communities thrive in coming decades. Before being appointed CFM’s first director, Elizabeth led the Excellence Programs at AAM—Accreditation, Museum Assessment and Peer Review—as well as the association’s research activities. Prior to joining AAM, she spent 15 years working in museums in administration, curation and collections management. Her areas of expertise include futures studies, museum standards and best practices, ethics, collections management and planning, and assessment of nonprofit performance. Elizabeth Merritt has an M.A. Duke University, B.S. Yale University, Museum Management Institute, and University of Houston Futures Studies Certificate Course.

http://globalphiladelphia.org/events/philadelphia-reads-community-night-wednesday-april-102013

Philadelphia READS! Community Night Wednesday, April 10 Editor April, 2013

Philadelphia READS, the Penn Museum and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s GroundSwell initiative are kicking off a month-long children’s book drive with a free Community Night on Wednesday, April 10, from 5 to 8 pm at the Penn Museum!

This free event is an invitation for people young and old to explore the world through the Penn Museum’s many-cultured galleries—filled on this evening with a host of special activities with a literary twist. Guests are asked to bring a new or gently used children’s book—suitable for students in pre-kindergarten through elementary school—to contribute to Philadelphia READS, which provides books and literacy resources to educators in the City of Philadelphia.

A Night to Celebrate Reading Local performing artists, Penn Museum curators, collections keepers and graduate students will join in the celebration with gallery storytelling and hands-on activities including: Teaching artist, actor and storyteller Jan Michener of Arts Holding Hands & Hearts leading an interactive program using newspaper headlines to create and perform poetry.

Irene Plantholt, Graduate Student, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, teaching guests how to write in ancient Sumerian on clay tablets in a “first day of school” workshop.

Youth poets from ArtWell performing throughout the evening.

Allison Hedges, recent Penn MLA graduate in Ancient Studies, offering Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs workshops where everyone can learn to write their own name in hieroglyphs.

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) will also join in the literacy promotion efforts for the night. WePAC opens and staffs elementary school libraries

with screened and trained volunteers, making a difference for more than 5,000 students.

They will provide information on ways to volunteer in their program.

Sign up now for Philadelphia Reads Community Night, and share the invitation with friends! Walk-ins are welcome, too!

BOOK DROP-OFF The GroundSwell Philadelphia READS Book Drive is supported by multiple locations, and books are being collected through Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 12, 2013). Check hours at individual organizations before dropping off donations.

In Center City (Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance): http://www.philaculture.org/ The Philadelphia Building – Lobby -- 1315 Walnut Street On the Penn campus: Penn Museum, 3260 South Street -- www.penn.museum Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3860 Walnut Street -www.pennpresents.org Arthur Ross Gallery, 220 South 34th Street -- www.upenn.edu/ARG Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street -- www.icaphila.org Office of Community and Public Affairs, 133 South 36th Street, 5 fl -www.upenn.edu/ogca

http://www.generocity.org/2013/news-links-04-01/

News Links: The City’s Art Ecosystem, Comcast Bans Weapon Ads, Jersey Takes Charge of Failing Schools, Lenfest Foundation Maps Future Shannon Collins April 1st, 2013

Looking at the city’s art ecosystem In their latest cover story, CityPaper investigates the driving force behind the Kimmel Center’s Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, examining their budget in comparison to organizations like FringeArts. This year’s time-machine-themed festival from PIFA nearly halved the previous year’s budget, with $5.3 raised, mainly via corporate sponsorships and foundation grants. Thaddeus Squire of CultureWorks, Nick Stuccio of Philly Fringe, and Tom Kaiden of Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance chimed in with their thoughts. “[PIFA]” has some conflicts internally with its concept: Is it about the Kimmel Center, or is it about the community? It can be about both, but I think the criticisms lobbed at it are, ‘Well whatis it about?’” [CityPaper]

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Julian Siggers Appointed Williams Director of Penn Museum

Children's Book Drive Now Through Mother's Day GroundSwell, Penn Museum, Kick off PHILADELPHIA READS Children’s Book Drive More than 400 people visited the Penn Museum Wednesday evening, April 10, for the Philadelphia READS Community Night, presented in conjunction with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s GroundSwell initiative. The event marked the official kick off of a book drive for Philadelphia children. Kids and families enjoyed music, dance, and poetry performances, created their own poems, learned how to write in ancient Sumerian and in Egyptian hieroglyphs—and heard stories from books—as read by Museum curators and collections keepers throughout the manycultured galleries. By night’s end, the Museum had collected more than 350 books for PHILADELPHIA READS, a non-profit organization that provides free books to Philadelphia pre-school and elementary school educators for use in their classrooms and programs.

See photos from the event.

There’s plenty of time to be involved and, as the GroundSwell initiative motto notes, “do something good for a change” to make a difference in the community. The book drive continues through May 12, Mother’s Day. The Arts at Penn organizations, and the Office of Community and Public Affairs on campus, are collecting: Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, www.penn.museum Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3860 Walnut Street, www.pennpresents.org Arthur Ross Gallery, 220 South 34th Street, www.upenn.edu/ARG Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street, www.icaphila.org Office of Community and Public Affairs, 133 South 36th Street, 5 fl, www.upenn.edu/ogca In Center City, the Cultural Alliance has a book drop off in the lobby of their building: The Philadelphia Building – Lobby 1315 Walnut Street http://www.philaculture.org/action/groundswell

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology | 3260 South Street | Philadelphia, PA 19104 | (215) 898-4000 | Contacts

http://www.citizenscall.net/arts/singer-denise-montana-performs-in-cheltenham-this-wednesdaynight/

Singer Denise Montana Performs in Cheltenham This Wednesday Night Editor March 29, 2013

Singer Denise Montana will appear at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts this Wednesday evening. As a part of the Cheltenham Jazz Bridge series which occurs the first Wednesday of every month from October through May, the concert is is a rare midweek cultural treat that could hardly be more convenient – or a more uplifting antidote to the normal routine.

There isn’t much Montana, a double platinum-selling recording artist, has not done in the business. Whether singing jazz, blues, pop, rock, or compositions from the great American songbook, she is a vibrant performer who imbues every song with her own singular stamp. She has headlined at the top clubs and festivals all over the world, appeared extensively as a singer and actress on national and area television and radio, and worked with just about every top name in the music business. Check her out here.

Montana will be accompanied by three world-class artists: pianist Aaron Graves; bassist Matthew Parrish; and drummer Francois Zayas.

Don’t forget that April is Jazz Month in the U.S. and all over the world, making this the perfect time to support jazz. Jazz Bridge is a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to assisting area jazz and blues musicians in need. Their monthly Cheltenham program is part of a regionwide concert series including four other locales.

For more details, visit JazzBridge.org/Upcoming-Events.

The concerts are partially funded by a Project Stream grant from the PA Council on the Arts and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Their highlights, which include quirky and informative Q&A sessions with the musicians and free refreshments, make it one of the great entertainment values around. Tickets for the show at the arts center, located at 439 Ashbourne Rd., are $10 ($5 for students) and are available only at the door. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Information: 215-517-8337.

http://thefinest.com/deconstructing-pifa/

Deconstructing PIFA What the festival says about arts funding in Philly Emily Guendelsberger March 28, 2013

DOW THE HATCH: The interactive PIFA “time machine” installed in the lobby of Kimmel Center. Dow Chemical is one of the corporate sponsors that made it possible to put on this year’s festival after the blockbuster $10 million grant that funded the first Paris-themed festival in 2011 ran out.

In the many, many studies done on the impact of the growth of the arts and culture in Philadelphia over the past decade, the word “ecosystem” is often used to describe all of the city’s galleries, audiences, artists, foundations and anything else involved with how art is produced and consumed. It’s a term that unfortunately evokes the image of a theater full of frogs and flies watching Shakespeare. If you extend the silly metaphor, though, there’s at least one useful image: Philly’s arts ecosystem is a bit like a pond where fish of all shapes and sizes are at an all-time high, but the water level keeps falling more and more each year.

And the Kimmel Center’s Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, otherwise known as PIFA, is a really big new fish. It rolled into town two years ago on a grant of $10 million — and because the numbers involved with arts funding can be a bit opaque, here are a few things that cost slightly less than $10 million: The total combined cost of the four years of the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe leading up to PIFA. The combined grants that will be given out this year by the state’s Pennsylvania Council on the Arts ($8.1 million) and the city’s Philadelphia Cultural Fund ($1.6 million).

The amount the Philadelphia Orchestra projected it would save in two-and-a-half years by cutting musician salaries and benefits as part of its 2011 Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.

When you introduce anything that big into any ecosystem, it’s going to have an effect.

But since the first Paris-themed festival in 2011 came pre-funded by the Annenberg Foundation, it wasn’t clear what that effect would be — or even whether this was sustainable or just a one-time set-money-on-fire fluke. As the Annenberg grant stipulated that the whole grant be spent on the festival’s first year, this sophomore outing will be a much better indicator of whether PIFA will sink or swim in the long run.

“The requirement to use the $10 million in the first year was to make sure it was big enough to really get launched — I think that really served it well,” says Anne Ewers, president and CEO of the Kimmel Center and the driving force behind PIFA. “When you put out $4 million for branding — people understood what it was, and came, and loved it. That’s an investment that we don’t have to make again.”

This year’s time-machine-themed festival, which begins today, is much smaller-scale, with 50 rather than 135 participating arts groups. Depending on whom you ask, this is because of either a more curatorial approach or a nearly halved budget of $5.3 million, raised mainly via corporate sponsorships and foundation grants. According to Ewers, potential funders of the planned third edition of the every-other-year festival in 2015, who presumably saw the first festival as a fluke and sat this one out, are watching closely. “To have another, equally successful [festival in] 2013 reinforces this chance of a lifetime” not for just the artists and audiences, she says, but “for the funding community to realize that their return on investment was exactly what they envisioned it to be.”

Kimmel representatives tend to coyly invoke the artistic temperament when asked for specifics about how the $10 million Annenberg grant was spent, as if word getting out about who got more funding than whom will cause the Avenue of the Arts to erupt into a week of catfights, but the $4 million figure Ewers mentioned would work out to about 40 percent of PIFA’s 2011 budget spent on marketing. Compare that to only 10 percent of expenses local performing-arts organizations averaged for marketing and ads the previous year (a total of about $21.3 million, according to a study by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance), and it’s not hard to see why some participating artists were startled.

Renae Dinerman worked with PIFA in 2011 as arts director of International House (she has since left), organizing a screening of a music-video work with Network for New Music. Because it was not commissioned by the festival, she says, coming under the PIFA umbrella meant a promotional boost, but no financial aid. And she found the benefits of being an official PIFA show were not what she’d hoped, given the competition for festivalgoers’ attention. “We maybe felt a little ignored, in the mix of 130 other events. … It was a little frustrating, but understandable.”

Knowing that PIFA had dropped $4 million on ads made it more frustrating. “I went to all the marketing meetings, and I was really surprised that millions of dollars were going into marketing this event. They were putting billboards in Paris, France!” says Dinerman. “There was a disconnect between the branding and the hype and the marketing funds going into putting this together the first year and how that money didn’t seem to be getting down to the smaller organizations.”

“Lee [Annenberg] loved [the idea of a festival] because it had all the things she had always wanted to see for this city,” says Ewers. “The collaboration of its arts groups, the spotlight put on the arts in Philadelphia.” But, if you were judging it on where the dollars were spent, you might conclude the festival was as much about potential visitors to Philadelphia as it was about Philadelphians. Ewers’ goal was to establish PIFA as an international fly-in event, like Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but, small point — Philly already had a well-established Fringe Festival.

“You listen to funders complain about duplicating efforts,” says Thaddeus Squire, founder of CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia, a consulting group that helps arts nonprofits change to deal with this new, probably permanent economic situation.

“FringeArts and Live Arts purports to be the same thing PIFA purports to be, which is: unique, an effort to place Philadelphia on the international map. I’m sure if you talked to [FringeArts president and producing director] Nick Stuccio, he’d say, ‘What the hell do you think we’ve been doing for the last 15 years?’”

(Asked for comment, Stuccio carefully wrote: “It’s true that the festival and the incredible artists we present, both from Philadelphia and over 30 countries, are known around the world. … There have been many contributors to Philadelphia’s growing reputation as a city of world-class art. We’re really proud of what we’ve built and that we’ve played a significant role in developing that reputation.”)

By refusing to grant primacy to either the “Philadelphia” or “International” of its name, PIFA hasn’t firmly established itself as either.

“It’s trying to be this international thing for the city, but it’s really trying to solve some problems for the Kimmel Center — which is legitimate. The Kimmel Center’s putting it on,” says Squire. “[PIFA] has some conflicts internally with its concept: Is it about the Kimmel Center, or is it about the community? It can be about both, but I think the criticisms lobbed at it are, ‘Well, what is it about?’”

For a demonstration of the all-inclusive vagueness drawing those criticisms, here’s Ewers’ minute-and-a-half response to a question about whether PIFA was founded with a specific destination-arts-festival model like Edinburgh or Cannes in mind:

“We did look at all the other festivals to determine how to shape ours, but ours is unique — in the sense that when you look at something like an Edinburgh, everything comes from outside. Whereas this festival puts the spotlight on the arts and culture that Philadelphia has to offer. Because, let’s face it, we have an international orchestra in the Philadelphia Orchestra, we have Philadanco, which tours all over the world — those international things are here. And on top of that, of course, we all engage international artists, the Kimmel Center brings in international artists all the time, as does the orchestra, as do many of our other colleagues. And so it is an international festival; it does bring in international artists and it also puts an international spotlight on the arts organizations that exist here. And that uniqueness, I think, is terrific. Mind you, we looked at many other festivals, many of them were biannual; we thought that was a good pattern, so you have enough time to prepare between each festival. We looked at other festivals in terms of size and scope, and we chose what we feel are the best elements of other festivals plus making this uniquely our own.”

Ewers is an incredibly canny businesswoman who, since taking the helm of the Kimmel in 2007, has pulled the organization from eight-digit debts to solid profitability. PIFA is her creation through and through — she pitched the idea in her job interview. If she can’t give a clear mission statement for it in a minute or less, nobody can.

The time-machine theme of PIFA 2013 is so open-ended as to apparently include anything that happened, or probably happened, or probably will happen, at some point in the past or future — and some even half-ass picking a defensible date. (Trapeze lessons claiming to represent the day in 1965 when the miniskirt was invented, we are looking at you.) Likewise, almost anything would fit into the festival concept Ewers describes — a month of events that simultaneously celebrate a local arts community, internationally touring Philly groups and international acts that visit Philly.

“Pssh,” you say, “What about, uh, Savion Glover performing with Justin Guarini?” Joke’s on you — that’s Saturday night at 8 p.m.

The backdrop for this high-budget, dual-fuzzy-concept festival is a city where the arts are simultaneously thriving and starving.

Take the fate of the Philadelphia Theatre Alliance, which until about a year ago was a major provider of services for the theater community, the most visible being the annual Barrymore Awards. But on April 5, 2012, the board met, examined their charter and concluded that the best thing they could do for the theater community was commit organizational seppuku.

“Competition was getting more and more fierce among the theater companies for grants, and the Theatre Alliance was applying to those very same foundations to support an administrative infrastructure” that wasn’t showing results equal to its salary

and benefit costs, says Margie Salvante, who was executive director at the time. “There are more theater companies every year, which is great! But there’s the same amount or less contributed revenue available.” The board voted to dissolve. Responsibilities for services were divided up among member theaters and organizations and a new group, Theatre Philadelphia, that stepped up to help fill the void. “What’s important there is that that new organization is volunteer-based,” says Salvante.

The past several years have been rougher on Philly’s arts sector than cheery headlines about the city’s culture boom would lead you to expect. A 2011 Cultural Alliance study of changes between 2007 and 2009 found a couple truly heartening statistics. True to Philadelphians’ rep as faithful theater patrons, arts ticket revenues went up 11 percent and individual donations by 20 percent during the recession. But it also found that, if you include investments, revenues fell a horrendous 43 percent, and half of the organizations polled were in the red by the study’s end.

In 2007, the RAND Corporation put out a prescient study titled “Arts and Culture in the Metropolis: Strategies for Sustainability” focusing on Philadelphia as a case study. It ends with a list of threats. First: “The region’s art sector may outgrow its support base.”

“The arts sector in the Philadelphia region depends upon earnings, especially admissions receipts, for about half its total revenues. The two most important drivers of total attendance — population growth and the growth in the number of well-educated residents — have remained stable over the past decade. The arts sector, however, has been growing much more rapidly than either of these two factors.” A massive survey of local arts organizations turned up the most frequent complaint: that “large major arts organizations … receive the vast majority of resources. Interviews revealed that many smaller arts organizations were struggling to obtain funding and, in some cases, to survive. … Indeed, the growth of the arts sector raises questions about its long-term financial sustainability.”

“It’s basic math: With less to go around every year, many vital community cultural programs no longer make the cut,” wrote Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance president Tom Kaiden in a letter to the Inquirer this month about the grants budget of the city’s Cultural Fund being cut in half from $3.2 million in 2010 to the $1.6 million that was awarded in small chunks a couple weeks ago.

“This status quo is not sustainable. … Trimming budgets and adopting better management practices can only go so far.”

American nonprofit-arts ecosystems have existed outside of the laws of straight capitalism since the Industrial Revolution; they’re not the zero-sum games of the free market, everyone competing for a fixed amount of money excreted by a city’s foundations, ticket buyers, government and rich people. “It’s different in every community, every place I’ve ever worked,” says Ewers. “In Minneapolis, where they have many, many Fortune 500 companies, there’s huge amounts of support from the corporate world. In Boston, it was very private and anonymous, very large gifts from individuals.”

Philly has historically been blessed with a glut of major arts-funding foundations — Pew, William Penn, Annenberg, Knight — and an arts-loving citizenry that actually responded to the recession by going out to the theater more.

However, both appear to have time limits. Leonore Annenberg’s gift of $10 million for PIFA was her last before her death at age 91 in 2009; since then, the Annenberg Foundation has essentially moved to California. Pew does more research in D.C. than straight grant-making these days — plus, last week it announced it was switching to a project-based grant model, a move that in effect will force big established arts nonprofits like the Arden, Opera Philadelphia and the PMA to hustle for grants like everyone else.

Then on Monday, the Lenfest Foundation announced it was drastically changing up its plans and would be focusing solely on disadvantaged youth. The William Penn Foundation is now the last big player in the area.

Much more serious for the long term is the Philadelphia School District’s view of music and arts programs as disposable in times of trial. In 2006, only a third of District schools had both an art teacher and a music teacher, and things have only gotten worse. The biggest correlation with an adult supporting the arts is if that adult participated in the arts herself as a kid. If the Philadelphia Orchestra isn’t pleased with These Kids Today, just wait 20 years for These Kids Tomorrow, the ones who never learned “Twinkle, Twinkle” on the viola.

And it’s in the context of those kids of tomorrow that the time machine wedged into the Kimmel Center lobby starts to make sense. Though some of its events can feel a little Popsy and entry-level for a festival devoted to the arts (particularly if you’re coming off a Fringe in which you saw a gut-wrenching chamber opera and 15 different sets of genitalia), it’s because many are supposed to be just that: entry level. Things like the big street fair, the tons of advertising, the giant spiral thing in the Kimmel lobby and the many family-friendly and free events seem aimed less at pushing the edges of creative expression than at creating new supporters of the arts to match the growth of arts that need supporting. It’s thinking about the future.

So what will this city’s arts ecosystem look like in 20 years?

Anne Ewers hopes that people value the arts and their economic benefits enough that everyone currently in the funding game — business, government, individual and foundation — steps up their support: “One area where I’ve been very pleased with our initial efforts — I’d say the area we all need to look at — is the number of large, large companies in the suburbs that are eager for a presence in Center City.”

Thaddeus Squire of CultureWorks thinks arts organizations will be supported almost entirely by their audiences: “We’ll be less concerned with internationalism and all the insecurities Philadelphia has. We’ll create value on a highly local level, and support things on that scale.”

Tom Kaiden of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance sees a shift toward both support and participation coming from a very broad base of everyday Philadelphians: “Increasingly, I think, culture will be woven into the activities in every neighborhood of a city — in fact, I think that’s already happening.”

But, as that time machine in the Kimmel Center isn’t functional yet, we’ll all just have to wait and see.

http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/artist-stories/roger-lee-dance-choreography

Roger Lee - Dance & Choreography. On Attracting and Retaining Diverse Audiences Baraka de Soleil March 28, 2013

“Many professional dance companies in major U.S. cities dream of having more African American audiences for their work. Reality sets in as artistic and administrative staff look out over the crowd and wonder where all the African Americans audiences have gone. Sure there are a few people of color scattered among the sea of dance lovers, but not nearly enough to fulfill the dance field’s collective desire for more racially diverse crowds.”

– Roger Lee So begins the self-described “dilemma” dancer, choreographer and writer Roger Lee identifies in his recent article for Dance/USA’s e-Journal: “Where Have All the African American Audiences Gone for Concert Dance?”(January 15, 2013). This young artist from Philadelphia shares sobering thoughts on the twin challenges of building culturally relevant content and of retaining African American audiences for the concert dance stage.

Articles and blogs have been surfacing online offering provocative and sometimes challenging viewpoints on cultural relevance, issues surrounding diversity within dance, equity and concerns from various communities regarding “seeing themselves represented onstage.” As the current researcher in dance for CAR and curator of Moving Dialogs, Diversity+Dance, a Chicago-based humanities discussion series, I'm interested in hearing local and national perspectives on dance, culture and community engagement.

As the discussion surrounding “diversity within dance” continues to expand, I reached out to Roger and asked him to share his thoughts on his particular dilemma to see how it applies to Chicago.

CAR: So tell me, Roger, what inspired you to write your article for Dance/USA? Roger Lee: I felt inspired to write that article because African American audiences in Philadelphia love the arts, but the majority feel a disconnect with the current offerings presented on stage. They long for work that is culturally relevant, so I felt inspired to write an article on this that was grounded in research related to dance as a performing art. This research came from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance publications and focus groups conducted by Slover Linett

Strategies, a Chicago-based audience research firm for cultural and educational organizations.

What does cultural relevance mean to you?

Cultural relevance means that a work deals with social issues that are specific to a particular culture. For instance, a culturally relevant work for an African American audience may be a work that explores slavery or civil rights. I want to be very clear that African Americans are not one in the same. We each come with our own experiences, tastes, interests, and shades. However, the heart of my argument is that the majority of African Americans are interested in seeing their heritage celebrated on stage. They want and deserve the option of seeing themselves represented on stage. African Americans want more options than just traditional, European-based works.

I believe that audiences of all colors long for diversity on stage. Not just artistically within dance—ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, African, et cetera—but diverse in thematic content. Caucasian audiences may be interested in a dance concert about Asian American history or African American audiences may want to see a Latino history dance concert.

Let’s dig a bit deeper into this concept of diversity and its relationship to dance. What did it mean to you ten years ago? How has that shifted? What do you believe is the cause of that shift?

Ten years ago I was 14 years old and believed that diversity only dealt with race. I thought it only referred to the color of a person's skin. Now, at the age of 24, I see that it goes a lot deeper than skin color. It deals with philosophies, childhood experiences, religion, wealth, sexual orientation, all sorts of things.

Ten years ago I believed that dance was all about energy, excitement, and up-beat music. I thought that dance was a big party where the performers were charged with getting the audience out of their seat, moving and having the time of their lives. My philosophy was that dance was supposed to be simply entertainment at its finest. Now I appreciate all movement forms for their beauty, history and contemporary development.

After many life experiences inside and outside of the dance field, I believe that dance is also about artistry and conviction. I believe the role of the dance artist is to connect with the audience on an emotional level, to make them feel something powerful.

How did higher education played a key role in deepening your understanding?

Living on a college campus for four years really opened my eyes. I went to Ursinus College and encountered a diverse culture that ran deeper than race. On a campus with a small percentage of multi-cultural students, I learned that students had different religions, sexual orientations, home lives, finances, academic pursuits, etc. While attending graduate school at Drexel University, I experienced much more racial diversity

on campus. I also experienced the “diversity of real life”: adult experiences pertaining to work, families, and finances.

In working with choreographers from all over the world in variety of dance genres, I experienced that there is true diversity in dance philosophies, aesthetics and techniques. This revelation deepened my studies in dance and took me out of merely study in the classroom to teaching, research, writing and choreographing.

How do you see the role of performing artists—specifically, dancers—within the larger cultural community?

Due to the economic recession, the performing arts are now competing more intensely with a number of leisure-time activities such as sports, entertainment and dining. If we do not find meaningful ways to engage with our community and show them why the performing arts should be their top choice for an evening out, we will soon become extinct. The good news is that with enhanced technology and social networking capacity, performing arts organizations have the opportunity to reach out to broader audiences in new and exciting ways. Long gone are the days where we could sell tickets by just promoting our own work and not tailoring our communications to specific audiences.

We need to adopt an audience-centered approach and talk about how our work fulfills the audience's needs and desires. We need to be able to articulate why our work is important to the audience. Although every dance company and choreographer brings their own unique perspective to their work, dance has a universal importance. Dance is so important because it is one of the most natural forms of physical self-expression. It celebrates heritage through specific movements, use of music and a carrying of tradition from generation to generation.

On a personal level, dance builds self-esteem, promotes team work, creativity, problem solving, physical and emotional health, and communication between people— particularly artists and audiences. If performing arts organizations are to survive, we need to think more about our consumer and less about ourselves.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2013/03/01/magazine-feature-provides-philadelphia.html

Magazine feature provides Philadelphia big opportunity to promote itself Peter Van Allen March 1, 2013

US Airways’ in-flight magazine will feature a cover story on Philadelphia.

It will devote 85 pages to Philadelphia, including information on hotels, attractions, shops, events, universities, hospitals and major corporations. The cover shows the view from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, looking toward Center City. The issue will be available throughout March — with potential to get in the hands of 6 million fliers.

Philadelphia is one of the airline’s (NYSE:LCC) hubs and the in-flight magazine promotes those hubs as travel destinations. It was a collaboration with the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Pace Communications and area attractions.